Struggle to complete vaccination begins with wrong entry in certificates

For many in the city, the struggle to complete vaccination procedure does not get over after managing to book a slot and receiving the first dose. Many are complaining that they were not able to get the vaccination certificates on time due to late entry and certificate generation, because of which they are unable to get the second dose. There are also complaints of wrong dates mentioned on the certificates, which affects the second dose schedule.

“I took Covishield on May 20, but due to server issue, the officials at the site noted my beneficiary detail and said I could collect my certificate after a day or two. When I went on Wednesday, I was informed that my details cannot be updated now. When I insisted for the vaccination certificate, I was given a new certificate with June 2 as the registration date,” said K Rajmohan of Kolathur.

In another instance, Ramya K of OMR was administered Covaxin through the mass vaccination drive organised by her office in the last week of April. Instead of vaccination certificate, she was given a small slip with details of vaccine and date of second dose. Later, due to the lockdown, the company could not organise the second dose drive as the employees could not come for the vaccination.

“In the absence of a certificate, the other sites did not give me the second dose. They did not accept the slip. When I asked them to register me as first dose at least, Covaxin was not being given as first dose due to shortage. I had to run from pillar to post to request my office to get in touch with the officials from the Health Department to give me the second dose. It was after about 7-8 weeks that I got my second shot,” said Ramya.

These issues are not just limited to Greater Chennai Corporation limits or organisations within the city but in other districts also. The State Health Department holds the organisation and Corporation officials accountable for the lapse in data.

When contacted, Director of Public Health and Preventive Medicine Dr TS Selvavinayagam said the delay in updating on the CoWIN portal was a reason for such cases. He added that the health officials would also be instructed to verify the vaccination data so that no entry is missed.